Stop, Look, Go: A Mindful Gratitude Practice from David Steindl-Rast

As I reflect upon my own mindful gratitude practice and gather resources to reboot my Mindful Gratitude workshop, I am continuing to explore the work of Brother David Steindl-Rast.  The “Stop. Look. Go.” practice is one of the new tools I found and wanted to share.  It is an informal practice that happens in the comings and goings of daily life and takes only a few minutes and some reflection.  Here are the three parts:

1.) Stop.  This alone is a quite valuable practice.  We live in a culture that is all productivity, rush and noise. Can we take a moment and be still? What benefits might we experience if we do?  In Steindl-Rast’s words, we need to create “stop signs” in our lives that create a pause and be still.

Take a moment and reflect: where might you create a stop sign in your own life?  What cue will you use as a reminder?

2.) Look.   Be curious about your own experience in this moment.  What do you see? Hear? Feel? For what can you experience a sense of gratitude? You don’t need to manufacture anything, and if something quite difficult is happening, there is no reason to try and change it. Perhaps you just remember that you are alive. That you are breathing. That there is no moment exactly like this moment.

3.) Go. What seed for action is this moment offering you? Living is an art that you create as you go. How can you make it beautiful for yourself? For others?  Ask yourself these questions and wait patiently for an answer. When you get one, do it, act on the insight that comes from your own intuition and reflection.

Need inspiration to start this practice?  Here is a beautiful video from gratefulness.org’s website.

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   Did happened when you took a moment to stop, look, go?  What did you find?  Please share your thoughts below.